Trace element loads in the Great Lakes Basin: A reconnaissance |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Geological Sciences & Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada;2. Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Burlington, Ontario, Canada;1. Department of Biology, University of Minnesota, Duluth Campus, 207 Swenson Science Building, 1035 Kirby Dr, Duluth, MN 55812, United States;2. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Fisheries Management, La Crosse, WI 54603, United States;3. The Brule River Sportsmen''s Club, 6460 E. County Hwy B, South Range, WI 54874, United States;4. US Fish and Wildlife Service, Lodi Fish and Wildlife Office, 850 South Guild Ave. Suite 105, Lodi, CA 95240, United States;1. Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran;2. Physical Geography Department, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 14155-6465, Tehran, Iran;1. Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, Office of Research and Development, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, USA;2. Neptune and Company, Inc., Los Alamos, NM, USA;1. Quantitative Fisheries Center, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States;2. Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States;3. Fisheries Division, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Gaylord, MI 49735, United States;4. Fisheries Division, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Oden State Fish Hatchery, Alanson, MI 49706, United States;1. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Lake Huron Fisheries Research Station, 160 East Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI 49707, USA;2. Michigan State University, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Quantitative Fisheries Center, 375 Wilson Road, 101 UPLA Building, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA;1. Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands;3. Aquaculture and Fisheries Group, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, the Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | Water quality data for trace elements in the Great Lakes are relatively scarce, complicating the assessment of current trace element baselines and their distribution patterns. Here, we present concentration data for >40 major and trace elements in >100 samples from the Great Lakes connecting channels, surface waters, precipitation and select Canadian tributaries, to establish a high-level assessment of loading rates across the basin. Contrasting upstream-to-downstream trends were observed for the investigated trace elements, ranging from net-decreasing (>5-fold for e.g., Co, Tl, Y) to net-increasing surface water concentrations (>2-fold for e.g., Sb, U, As). Calculated loading rates reveal different, element-specific controls of runoff, connecting channel loads or precipitation on trace element occurrence. Lake-wide elemental mass-balances could be reasonably closed for conservative trace elements (e.g., Li, <53% residual) but not for others (e.g., rare earth elements with up to 5-fold discrepancies), reflective of general data scarcity and uncertainty in loading rates. In line with major water quality trends, spatial distribution patterns in Lakes Erie and Ontario display subtle near-shore to off-shore heterogeneity for a few trace elements (<1 order-of-magnitude for V or Se), but higher variability for trace elements with significant inputs derived from tributaries. This work provides important quantitative baseline data for trace elements in the Great Lakes that may help optimize surveillance and management strategies for the preservation of Great Lakes water quality. |
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| Keywords: | Great Lakes Trace elements Surface water quality Elemental loads Mass-balancing |
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